US7049865B2

Power-on detect circuit for use with multiple voltage domains

Summary by NHIP

Multi-domain power-on detection circuit

The circuit monitors proxy signals from multiple voltage domains to generate control signals indicating when specific voltage sources reach threshold levels. A comparator creates a difference signal between proxy levels, which an inverter converts into a control output, while additional logic gates combine signals from separate analyzers to manage cross-domain conditions.

Claim Score by NHIP

Read claim 24, the broadest

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention include a circuit, a method, and a system for power-on detect circuitry for use with multiple voltage domains.

US7049865B2, drawing sheet 1 — Sheet 1 of 6

Term

Term ended

Expired 5 March 2024, 2.6 years ago.

33 claims: 4 independent, 29 dependent

1
A circuit comprising:a first terminal adapted to manifest a first proxy signal that reflects a first level of a first voltage source of a first voltage domain;a second terminal adapted to manifest a second proxy signal at a second level of a second voltage source of a second voltage domain;and a first analyzer, coupled to the first and second terminals, adapted to receive the first and second proxy signals and to generate, in response, a first control signal indicative for said first voltage domain, whether the second voltage source has reached a first threshold level in said second voltage domain.
18
An integrated circuit comprising:a first operational circuit, coupled to a first voltage source, adapted to receive a first voltage from the first voltage source, defining a first voltage domain;a second operational circuit, coupled to a second voltage source, adapted to receive a second voltage from the second voltage source, defining a second voltage domain;and a power-on detect circuit, coupled to the first and second voltage sources, adapted to output a first control signal for the first voltage domain indicating whether the second voltage has reached a first threshold level in the second voltage domain.
24
Broadest claimClaim Score 65, broad(NHIP)A method comprising:receiving a first control signal from a power-on detect circuit coupled to receive a first and second voltage from a first and second voltage source which respectively define a first and second voltage domain, said first control signal indicating, for the first voltage domain, that the second voltage has reached a first threshold level in the second voltage domain;receiving a first logic signal from an operational circuit of the second voltage domain;qualifying the first logic signal with the first control signal;and transmitting a second logic signal to an operational circuit of the first voltage domain.
30
A system comprising:an integrated circuit including;a first operational circuit, coupled to a first voltage source, adapted to receive a first voltage from the first voltage source, defining a first voltage domain;a second operational circuit, coupled to a second voltage source, adapted to receive a second voltage from the second voltage source, defining a second voltage domain;and a power-on detect circuit, coupled to the first and second voltage sources, adapted to output a first control signal for the first voltage domain indicating whether the second voltage has reached a first threshold level In the second voltage domain;and a dynamic random access memory coupled to the second operational circuit of the integrated circuit;and an input/output interface coupled to the second operational circuit of the integrated circuit.

Independent claims4

34 paragraphs in 4 sections, as filed

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

0001Disclosed embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of integrated circuits (IC), and more particularly to providing signal integrity across multiple voltage domains of the IC.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

0002Many types of modern electronic devices may incorporate multiple voltage domains. For example, a modern microprocessor chip may include core logic that operates in one voltage domain while interacting with input/output (I/O) circuitry operating in another.

0003During the initial power up sequencing the different voltage domains may reach a nominal power level at different times. If logic in a first voltage domain is required to function only when the voltages of both domains are at their nominal levels, the logic in the first voltage domain may need an indication that the signal(s) outputted by the second domain logic is(are) valid. Prior art methods have attempted to accomplish this by sending a signal through a level shifter from the second voltage domain to the first voltage domain. Unfortunately, the level shifter output may be an undefined signal if the voltage in the second voltage domain has not reached the nominal voltage level. The propagation of this undefined signal into the first voltage domain could falsely indicate that the signal(s) outputted from the second voltage domain is(are) valid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

0004Embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which the like references indicate similar elements and in which:

0005<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1</figref>a–1d illustrate a power-on detect circuit for use to assure proper voltage levels of multiple voltage supplies for multiple voltage domains, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

0006<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> illustrates an example of a power-on detect circuit described in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1</figref>a–1d, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

0007<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 3</figref>a–3b illustrate various voltage levels and voltage goodness signals as a function of time, for an example sequential ramp up of two voltage supplies;

0008<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> illustrates an integrated circuit with multiple voltage supplies, multiple operational circuits operating in multiple voltage domains, a level shifter circuit, and a power-on detect circuit, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

0009<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref> represents a truth table corresponding to the level shifter circuit diagram in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref>, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and

0010<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref> illustrates a system using a power-on detect circuit, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

0011In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout, and in which is shown by way of illustration of specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural or logical changes may be made without departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present invention. Therefore, the following detailed description is not to be taken in a limiting sense and the scope of the embodiments of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

0012<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1</figref>a–1d illustrate a power-on detect (POD) circuit 100 that may be used to assure voltage levels of multiple voltages for multiple voltage domains, in accordance with one embodiment of this invention. In particular, for this embodiment, POD circuit 100 may be used to assure the voltage levels of first (V1) and second (V2) voltage supplies for two voltage domains.

0013For the embodiment, as illustrated in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>a, POD circuit 100 includes voltage dividers 102a–102b, V1 goodness detectors 104a and 106b and V2 goodness detectors 106a and 104b coupled to each other as shown. The goodness detectors 104a, 104b, 106a, and 106b may also be referred to as analyzers. Voltage divider 102a, V1 goodness detector 104a and V2 goodness detector 106a serve the V1 domain, while voltage divider 102b, V2 goodness detector 104b and V1 goodness detector 106b serve the V2 domain. Accordingly, V1 or V2 domain may also be referred to as the “client” domain of the circuit elements that serve them.

0014Each of the voltage dividers 102a/102b is employed to generate two proxy signals V1L and V1H (or V2L and V2H) to reflect the voltage level of voltage V1/V2 in different manners. For the embodiment V1L/V2L rises rapidly as V1/V2 rises and then plateaus out, whereas, V1H/V2H rises more slowly initially as V1/V2 rises, but then very rapidly thereafter (see also <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>). Each of proxy signal pairs, V1L and V1H or V2L and V2H, is designed, such that the two proxy signals V1L/V2L and V1H/V2H equal each other when the voltage of interest V1/V2 reaches a threshold level of “goodness.” The threshold level that defines goodness is application dependent, and may vary from application to application.

0015Each of V1/V2 voltage goodness detectors 104a/104b is employed to indicate whether the voltage level of the voltage of its client domain V1/V2 has reached the corresponding desired threshold level. In other words, V1 voltage goodness detector 104a is employed to indicate for the V1 voltage domain, whether the voltage level of the V1 voltage is good, and V2 voltage goodness detector 104b is employed to indicate for the V2 voltage domain, whether the voltage level of the V2 voltage is good. Accordingly, V1/V2 voltage goodness detector 104a/104b may also be referred to as local voltage goodness detector. As illustrated, each of V1/V2 voltage goodness detectors 104a and 104b generates its indicator based on the corresponding proxy signals, V1L and V1H or V2L and V2H.

0016Each of V2/V1 voltage goodness detectors 106a and 106b, on the other hand, is employed to indicate whether the voltage level of the voltage of the other voltage domain V1/V2 has reached the corresponding desired threshold level. In other words, V2 voltage goodness detector 106a is employed to indicate for the V1 voltage domain, whether the voltage level of the V2 voltage is good, and V1 voltage goodness detector 106b is employed to indicate for the V2 voltage domain, whether the voltage level of the V1 voltage is good. Accordingly, V2/V1 voltage goodness detectors 106a and 106b may also be referred to as neighbor voltage goodness detector. As illustrated, for the embodiment, each of V2/V1 voltage goodness detectors 106a and 106b generates its indicator based on two complementary proxy signals of the two domains (e.g. V2H and V1L for indicating voltage level of V2 for the V1 domain, and V1H and V2L for indicating voltage level of V1 for the V2 domain), and the voltage goodness signal of the client domain V1good/V2good.

0017<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>b illustrates a voltage divider in further detail, in accordance with one embodiment. As illustrated, for the embodiment, each of voltage dividers 102a and 102b includes two branches. The first branch of the voltage divider 102a/102b may include a linear device 112a coupled to Vi (where Vi may be V1 or V2). In one embodiment, the linear device may be any type of resistive device (e.g., a resistor). The linear device 112a may load a saturating device 114a, which may be coupled to a ground. Examples of the saturating device may include, but are not limited to, a diode and a diode-connected transistor. It should be noted that although in this embodiment ground is used as the base voltage, it is not essential and may not be so in other embodiments. As illustrated, ViL (e.g., V1L or V2L) is taken at node 118 which is disposed in between the two devices 112a and 114a. The second branch of the voltage divider may be similar to the first, except that the saturating device 114b and the linear device 112b may have an opposite orientation. ViH (e.g. V1H or V2H) is taken at node 130 disposed in between devices 114b and 112b.

0018With the two branches of the voltage dividers having the linear and the saturation devices in opposite positions, as the voltage supply V1/V2 is ramped from zero to its nominal level, the intermediate voltages V1H/V2H and V1L/V2L characterize V1/V2 differently as earlier described. Further, for an embodiment using grounded voltage dividers, the linear and the saturation devices are designed such that V1H/V2H and V1L/V2L may be identical at exactly one non-ground voltage, when the voltage supply V1/V2 reaches the threshold level.

0019<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>c illustrates the local voltage goodness detector 104a/104b in further detail, in accordance with one embodiment. Substantively, each of the local voltage goodness detectors 104a and 104b is a differential logic arrangement for detecting a condition indicating that ViH is approximately greater than ViL (e.g., V1H and V1L, or V2H and V2L). In one embodiment, the differential logical arrangement could include a voltage comparator 122 and an inverter 124, coupled to each other and to terminals manifesting voltages ViL/ViH. The terminals may correspond to nodes 118 and 130 of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>b. The terminal manifesting voltage V1L/V2L, may be coupled to, e.g., the (+) input terminal of the voltage comparator 122, whereas terminal 130, manifesting voltage V1H/V2H may be coupled to, e.g., the (−) input terminal of the voltage comparator 122. The voltage comparator 122 may be an operational amplifier. Thus, before the condition of V1H/V2H being greater than V1L/V2L, the output of comparator 122 is positive, but after the condition of V1H/V2H being greater than V1L/V2L, the output of comparator 122 is negative. Thus inverter 124 will output a positive signal indicating V1/V2 is good in the V1/V2 domain (also referred to as the V1good or V2good signal). In an alternate embodiment, the inputs on the comparator 122 may be switched and the inverter 124 removed without changing the function of the goodness detector.

0020<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>d illustrates the neighbor voltage goodness detector 106a/106b in further detail, in accordance with one embodiment. Similar to local voltage goodness detector 104a/104b, neighbor voltage goodness detector 106a/106b, substantively, is also a differential logic arrangement. In one embodiment, the differential logic arrangement may include comparator 222 and inverter 224 coupled to each other as shown. Comparator 222 may also be a differential amplifier. The (+) and (−) terminals of comparator 222 are coupled to two terminals manifesting two complementary proxy signals of two voltage domains (e.g., V1L and V2H or V2L and V1H) instead. Furthermore, a logic gate such as an AND gate 226 may be used to gate the output of the inverter 224 with the local voltage good indication (V1good or V2good) for the client domain. Depending on the power-up sequence of a particular embodiment, the AND gate may not be needed to gate the control signal with the local voltage good signal.

0021In summary, <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> illustrates one example of a power-on detect circuit 100 including the elements discussed with reference to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1</figref>a–1d. This power-on detect circuit 100 may include a pair of voltage dividers 244, a pair of local voltage goodness detectors 248, and a pair of neighbor voltage goodness detectors 252 including a pair of logic gates 256. This power-on detect circuit 100 may be capable of outputting four signals including V1good, V2good, V1V2good, and V2V1good, locally assuring the V1 and V2 voltage domains that V1 and V2 have reached their respective desired threshold levels, as well as neighborly assuring the V2 and V1 voltage domains of the same. In one application, selected ones of these signals may then be used to qualify all signals transmitted across the voltage domains, to be discussed further with reference to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref>.

0022As is common in the art, the power-on detect circuit 100 may also be described as a power detect, power-on reset, power enable, and/or voltage detect circuit. Embodiments of the present invention relate to all of the above as they are generally understood in the field.

0023Although the above embodiment is illustrated depicting two power-supply domains, embodiments of this invention are not limited in use to only two domains.

0024As illustrated in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>, the power-on detect circuit includes semiconductor devices such as saturation and linear devices. Although these semiconductor devices are illustrated schematically as single transistors/resistors, this is done to facilitate the discussion of the circuit characteristics. When implemented or manufactured these may comprise multiple devices, depending, for example, upon the application or the particular integrated circuit chip. For example, as it is well known, some form of digital and/or analog circuit compensation may be included to address the potential variation in circuit parameters known to occur as a result of the fabrication process. Therefore, the simplified circuit diagram in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> is provided primarily for purposes of illustration and, as one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, when actually implementing a particular power-on detect circuit, more complex circuitry to provide a desired operation, such as operations described herein, may be employed. For example, a plurality of transistors having sizes that are binary weighted may be coupled so that each of the transistors may be switched on and off independently to “tune” the overall collection of binary weighted transistors to achieve a particular impedance or effective transistor width.

0025Also, certain logical functions schematically represented by a logic component should not be limited to that specific component. For example, the AND gate 226 represents the logical function of producing a certain output once two conditions have been satisfied. However, there are logical components other than an AND gate, which may be combined to produce the same function (e.g., a NAND gate followed by an inverter).

0026Devices that operate with multiple voltage domains may require a power-up sequence for proper initialization. In one embodiment, for example, an input/output domain may be sequenced to power-up before the core logic domain. However, this is not always the case, and other embodiments may use alternative power-up sequencing procedures. Embodiments of the present invention may be readily adapted to any number of power-up supply sequences with multiple voltage domains.

0027<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 3</figref>a–3b further explain the timing of the signals output from the power-on detect circuit 100 in correlation to a particular power-up sequence, in accordance with one example application. <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>a may depict a set of waveforms where the two voltages V1 and V2 are ramped sequentially. The different characterizations of V1 and V2 by the proxy signals V1L, V1H, V2L and V2H are as shown. <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>b depicts the binary signals that may be emitted from the differential logic arrangements to denote the goodness of the local or neighbor voltage. The V1good signal may be turned on after V1H is greater than V1L. Similarly, the V2good signal may be turned on after V2H is greater than V2L. Both of these signals indicate that, in their respective voltage domains, the voltage has reached the desired nominal level.

0028In this embodiment, the V1V2good signal may not be turned on until V2H becomes greater than V1L. This may give an indication in the first voltage domain that the neighbor voltage V2 has reached the desired nominal level. The V1V2good signal may also need the V1good signal; however, because of the power-up sequence of this embodiment, this signal may have already been generated earlier and therefore V2H>V1L is the final condition for the V1V2good signal. The V2V1good signal may work in the opposite way. That is, the V1H signal being greater than the V2L happens early in the sequence; however, the V2good signal has not been issued yet. Therefore, the V2good signal is the final event prior to the V2V1good signal.

0029<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> depicts an integrated circuit incorporated with an implementation of the power-on detect circuit 100, in accordance with one embodiment. As illustrated, integrated circuit 300 includes an operational circuit 302 designed to operate with voltage V2, defining the V2 voltage domain, and another operational circuit 304 designed to operate with voltage V1, defining the V1 voltage domain. For the embodiment, in addition to operational circuits 302 and 304 and POD 100, integrated circuit 300 also includes level shift arrangement 306 to facilitate transmission of signals from the V2 voltage domain to the V1 voltage domain.

0030In particular, POD 100 is used to qualify any signal transitioning between the two voltage domains. For the embodiment, level shift arrangement 306 includes level shifter 208 and AND gate 212 coupled to each other and the other elements as shown. In this embodiment, a logic signal, in2204, may be input from the V2 voltage domain. In2204 may enter a level shifter 208 to be shifted from the V2 voltage domain into the V1 voltage domain. The output may be gated after the level shifter 208 by a control signal indicating that the V2 voltage has reached the desired nominal level, e.g. V1V2good, using AND gate 212. When the AND gate 212 receives the control signal it may provide a level shifted logic signal, out1210, to operational circuit 304 of the V1 voltage domain. The arrangement may help to reduce the propagation of an X (unknown signal) by the level shifter 208 for the case where the destination voltage supply (e.g., V1) is valid but the driving supply (e.g., V2) is not. In various embodiments, integrated circuit 300 is a general purpose microprocessor, operational circuit 304 may be the core logic of the microprocessor, while operational circuit 302 may be the I/O section of the microprocessor.

0031<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref> illustrates a truth table depicting the state of the logical outputs (out1) of <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref> under various conditions, in accordance with one embodiment. If the voltage in the V1 voltage domain is indeed V1 and the voltage in the V2 voltage domain is also indeed V2, then by virtue of the power-on detect circuit outputting a V1V2good signal, output out1 will be valid accordingly. That is, under these conditions, if in2 is V2, then out1 will be V1. Conversely, if in2 is 0, then out1 will also be 0. However, if either voltage (V1 or V2) is 0, then by virtue of the fact that V1V2good will also be 0, regardless of what in2 is, out1 will be 0. Therefore, the occurrence of an undefined X propagated as out1 may be reduced.

0032Referring to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref>, there is illustrated one of many possible systems in which embodiments of the present invention may be used. As illustrated, system 270 includes integrated circuit 280, and a number of other components and/or input/output devices. The integrated circuit 280 may be coupled to the other components and the input/output devices by means of a bus 282. A power-on detect circuit, similar to the earlier discussed embodiments, may be incorporated with integrated circuit 280 to validate signals transferring between different domains of the integrated circuit 280.

0033The other components may include memory 284, a graphics processor 286, a mass storage device 288, and the input/output devices may include, e.g., a network interface 290. Examples of the memory 284 include but are not limited to static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic random access memory (DRAM). Examples of the mass storage device 288 include but are not limited to a hard disk drive, a compact disk drive (CD), a digital versatile disk drive (DVD), and so forth. Examples of other input/output modules 290 include but are not limited to a keyboard, cursor control devices, a display, a network interface, and so forth. Examples of the bus 282 include but are not limited to a peripheral control interface (PCI) bus, and Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, and so forth. In various embodiments, the system 270 may be a wireless mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a pocket PC, a tablet PC, a notebook PC, a desktop computer, a set-top box, an audio/video controller, a DVD player, and a server.

0034Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein for purposes of description of the preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a wide variety of alternate and/or equivalent implementations calculated to achieve the same purposes may be substituted for the specific embodiment shown and described without departing from the scope of the present invention. Those with skill in the art will readily appreciate that the present invention may be implemented in a very wide variety of embodiments. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the embodiments discussed herein. Therefore, it is manifestly intended that this invention be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.

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Priority claims
Document	Office	Kind	Date
79449704	United States of America	A	2004-03-05
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